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While a skinny kid with broad shoulders is sure to fill out and gain strength, one theory is that it’s difficult to overcome the lack of a backside. If a kid doesn’t have one at age 18, he’s not likely to get it. No butts, no glory.

It’s an interesting read, though I thought the best part was Fitzgerald describing why the M’s might scout a player they think is unlikely to fall to them in the draft:

“If he still happens to be around then, we’ve got to know why,” he said.

That’s an interesting way to look at it.

All in all, worth reading even if you’re up on scouting and the basics of it aren’t new to you.

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Comments

22 Responses to “Mariner scouting”

msb on
May 2nd, 2005 12:47 pm

hey, Junior always claimed that was where his power originated…

Troy on
May 2nd, 2005 1:19 pm

Interesting read, especially the part you excerpted Derek.

This part also jumped out to me: “Gems do develop late. Of the players on the Mariners’ 25-man major league roster only pitchers Gil Meche, Matt Thornton and Ron Villone are former first-round draft picks. Raul Ibanez is a 36th-round pick, Dan Wilson went in the 26th round and Ryan Franklin went in 23rd.”

Wasn’t Wilson a first round pick of the Reds back in 1990 or 91 (The Chipper Jones/Todd Van Poppell draft)? Or am I making that up?

The Ancient Mariner on
May 2nd, 2005 1:23 pm

Yep–he went 7th overall to the Reds in 1990.

Bill J on
May 2nd, 2005 1:41 pm

I remember when Junior was asked what he thought of Ichiro! when he made his first appearance at M’s camp. Junior said something to the effect of “he’s got no booty” (and he doesn’t!).

And it probably should have been noted that Sexson was drafted in the 24th round.

Jim Thomsen on
May 2nd, 2005 2:48 pm

It makes you wonder if mythic “Moneyball” figure Jeremy Brown was drafted so high not because of his on-base abilities, but because he has TWO butts.

msb on
May 2nd, 2005 3:15 pm

wandering OT slightly, Jermaine Clark (once drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 5th round of the 1997 amateur draft) will be brought up by the A’s to take over for Nick Swisher, as Swisher goes on the 15-day DL for a sprained AC joint (you know, that place Pokey is having surgery on….)

JPWood on
May 2nd, 2005 3:51 pm

“Booty” is first supposed to be an indicator of sprint speed, and Mike Cameron was the epitome of an outfielder with “booty”.
After 10 years of playing baseball and other tunes in Japan, though, I can confidently say that the Japanese have little to none of this “booty” quotient, but that it doesn’t prevent them from playing some fine fleet-footed baseball and doing other things that current R&B music clips couldn’t even imagine.

Love Rhombus on
May 2nd, 2005 4:39 pm

Wasn’t this posted like a year ago? Or am I just getting some weird deja vu? Am I crazy?

Vince on
May 2nd, 2005 4:40 pm

Anyone listen to Fox’s radio coverage of the NFL draft? They’d give a description of each player’s build — lanky arms, thick chest, big thighs, etc. — from top to bottom. And in between chest and legs, they would talk about each player’s “bubble.” “Big bubble,” the booming voice would say. Or “small bubble.” I even heard “nice bubble” and “huge bubble.” It took me an hour to accept that they were indeed discussing the ass of each player.

Re: (# 8) IBANEZ – Rumor has it that the reason he dropped to 36th was that scouts were suspicious of a guy that didn’t even know how to pronounce his own name.

Re: (# 15) MENTAL ILLNESS – Warning: Don’t let the possibility that you’re right on this lull you into thinking that you’re sane. (:-

Wsumojo on
May 2nd, 2005 6:52 pm

I love it……….if a player hasn’t been drafted then there is a reason(something must be wrong with him). So I guess don’t draft anyone available is the moral to the story?

Shoeless Jose on
May 2nd, 2005 9:16 pm

No, if a guy thought to be 1st round material is still available in the 3rd round, you have to ask yourself: did you get incredibly lucky, or does everyone else know something you don’t? It’s one thing to take a devalued player at an appropriate point in the draft; it’s another thing to burn a high pick on a player with hidden liabilities.

RealRhino on
May 3rd, 2005 9:36 am

#20 — Not picking on you, but that doesn’t make any sense (I’m picking on Fitzgerald’s explanation, I guess). His explanation is that we scout everybody so we know what the liability is that caused them to drop to the 3rd round from the 1st round.

But that doesn’t make any sense, because if you thought they were a 1st rounder even after scouting them, then you didn’t see (or evaluate in the same way) the liability. If you knew about the liability from scouting them, you wouldn’t still have them as a 1st rounder.

hans on
May 3rd, 2005 12:37 pm

I’m curious about this process. How much is a coach’s recommendation counted on in a scout’s evaluation of a player? It seems to me that a player’s coach, who sees the player everyday, is in a much better position to evaluate the skills and attitude of a player than a scout who might see a player two or three times, and have a chat or two with his family.

Then again, perhaps coaches will artificially inflate their opinion of a player, not having seen as many players as a scout, and wanting the best for that player. Perhaps some coaches would gain reputations among scouts as being honest, or good evaluators, while others would gain reputations as player promoters. Do relationships develop between coaches and scouts?

Do players and coaches know when a scout is coming? Do they recognize most scouts when they arrive? I’m sure some players get nervous at this “exposure”, while others thrive, and still others might just get lucky. What does it take for an unheralded player to impress a scout, and put themselves on a team’s radar?